


Sunshine

by sonictrowel



Series: Long Night in the Blue House [15]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-19
Updated: 2017-03-19
Packaged: 2018-10-07 12:57:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10361001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonictrowel/pseuds/sonictrowel
Summary: "It’s alright, darling.  We can’t all fall in love in a day,” River teased.The Doctor scoffed.  “You think I didn’t?”“Well, I don’t know when you…” she swallowed, and the sudden muted horror behind the Doctor’s frozen expression told her he’d realised where he’d unintentionally steered the conversation, “...when you met me.  But I know it took you a while.  You didn’t know me yet.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> Quick little fluffy one. I know everyone's waiting on that cliffhanger but we're on River's POV in this chapter so..... sorry!!

River and the Doctor tried to live in the real world, and in their normal-ish house portion of the TARDIS, as much as possible.  It just seemed to be part and parcel of this committing to a linear, continuous, stationary home life.  But every once in a while, the dark and cold got to be a bit too much— especially since they were essentially living in a bunker while the heavy snows continued outside— and they would retreat into one of the TARDIS rooms with artificial sunlight.  The gardens were River’s favourite, with the climate of a fresh spring day, the sounds of unseen birds chirping, and topiaries of fragrant roses in bloom around the grounds.

It was nearing the end of their current “honeymoon,” as Milly would soon be back from Earth, and River back to lecturing two days a week.  She didn’t want to spend any more time than that away from the Doctor.  Less than fourteen years left.  It would do her no good to start counting down now.  She really had to stop that.

She closed her eyes and nuzzled her face into the Doctor’s shoulder, trying to banish the thought from her mind.  They were spread out on a chaise longue, enjoying the warmth of the artificial sunshine.  She lay tucked against his side, one of his arms around her while the other held the novelisation of _The Crash of the Byzantium,_ which he was reading aloud to her _._ So far they had got quite a lot of it wrong, but that only added to the entertainment, as did the Doctor’s indignation over the many errors and overly dramatic characterisations.  But there were quite a few surprising little nuggets of truth in it as well, which made River wonder if the author didn’t have an accurate accounting of the events after all, and the rest was artistic licence.

“‘Is River Song your wife?’” the Doctor read her mother’s line with a bit of extra Scottish flair, while River chuckled.  “‘Because she's someone from your future, and the way she talks to you, I've never seen anyone do that.  She's kind of like, you know, ‘heel, boy.’”  

River laughed in earnest at that and the Doctor shot her a glare, unable to suppress his own smile as he read on.  

“‘She's Mrs. Doctor from the future, isn't she?  Is she going to be your wife one day?’”  He lowered the book to his chest and looked down at her.  “Who the hell gave them this?  Was one of those cleric boys just bloody following us around with a recorder?”

“Don’t know.  I mean, I’ve written about it, but certainly not in that amount of detail.  I missed out on the ‘heel, boy’ bit,” River smirked, toying with his collar.  She had a sudden thought and turned her face up to look at him.  “Did _you_ think I was your wife then?”

“'Course I did,” he said.  “Claim spoilers all you want, but you didn’t make much of a secret of it.”  He smiled fondly down at her.  “But, well… you know.”

“Idiot,” she replied, smiling back at him.

“Biggest buggering idiot in the entire fucking universe.”

“Ah, well.  You came round in the end.”

“You made it difficult to resist, even for an idiot like me,” he said, lowering his voice and leaning in close, his nose nudging the little curls at her hairline.

“Oh, did I?” she asked innocently.

“Mm,” his lips brushed her forehead.  “Impossible, in fact.”

“Well, I had quite a bit of experience to draw on.”

The Doctor pulled back and studied her quietly, brows drawn slightly together, brushing one hand over her hair.  “You had a such a hard time with young me.  I was a pudding-brained tosser.”

“Young me _killed_ you, sweetie.”

“Please.  That was one afternoon, _and_ you kissed me.  I never had to be looking right at you, not being able to touch you, knowing you weren’t… thinking you didn’t…” he sighed heavily.

River reached her hand up to stroke her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck.

“I thought about going back,” he went on, “finding you after every time you’d seen me when I was young, trying to make it up to you.”

“As I recall, you did once or twice,” she said, smiling up at him.

“I was afraid if I did too many times I’d bollocks it up— scramble the timeline, change something important.”

“I know.  But it’s alright, darling.  We can’t _all_ fall in love in a day,” she teased.

He scoffed.  “You think I didn’t?”

“Well, I don’t know when you…” she swallowed, and the sudden muted horror behind the Doctor’s frozen expression told her he’d realised where he’d unintentionally steered the conversation, “...when you met me.  But I know it took you a while.  You didn’t know me yet.”

“I, ah,” the Doctor stuttered, clearly struggling to speak about it.  “It— it’s hard to say, looking back.  Feels like I loved you the second I laid eyes on you.”  He was frowning, but his eyes were soft, looking straight into hers.  “Or at least from the first time you called me sweetie, the first time you showed me how clever and brave you were.  So, about twenty seconds later."

She laughed in spite of herself and smiled warmly up at him, trying to calm her pounding heart at hearing even these vague little details.  Knowing that his first time, in this case, really would likely be her last.

“You know me, dear,” he teased gently.  “I run round the universe picking up women.  Historically, it’s kind of been my thing.  I’d never have been so fucking terrified of you if I wasn’t in love with you.”

“I guess that’s true,” she conceded, biting her lip to stop from grinning like an idiot as she glanced up at him again.

“I’m sorry I wasted even a second of it.  Sorry I didn’t run straight for you instead of running away.”

“It doesn’t matter now, honey.  We’re _here_ now.  I never, ever dared to hope we’d have this— and with _you—_  the you I’ve shared my whole life with.”  Her chest swelled with emotion as she took in his beloved, now so very familiar face, the little smile lines creasing around his eyes as he gazed down at her.  She could always see it in this face, the recognition of their entire history.  “Every day of this is like a miracle.”

“You deserve more, River,” the Doctor said, bright eyes boring intensely into hers as his hand moved from her hair to her face, thumb brushing over her cheek.

River frowned.  Something else was going on here.

“Darling,” she began, trying not to let too much concern bleed into her voice, “has something been bothering you?”  He had seemed preoccupied for the past few days.  Not that his attention had ever deviated from her for long; she certainly had no complaints… but she knew him well enough to see the gears turning when he stared past her for a moment, when he thought she wasn’t looking.

His lips pressed together but he didn’t look away from her, eyes roaming over her face.  Finally he sighed.  “Not—  _bothering,_ exactly.  It bothers me that I can’t tell you.  It’s spoilers.”

“Oh,” she said, trying to keep her expression neutral.  She didn’t think there were many of those left, and she certainly had her theories about what they might entail.

“I hate keeping things from you,” he said.  “Especially now.  Please trust that I wouldn’t unless I had to.”

“Of course, honey.”  She did her best to offer him a reassuring smile.

He looked at her for a few moments longer, and she could practically see him struggling with himself, trying to think of something he could say.  Finally his features relaxed and he leaned in to kiss her.  River sighed through her nose as their lips met, melting into him, her tongue reaching out to slide against his, trying to chase away her thoughts and think only of his mouth on hers and his body warm and firm beside her, his arms wrapping around her back.  The Doctor hastily shoved the book off of his chest with his elbow, letting it tumble to the grass.  She took the hint and threw her leg over him, shifting until she was on top of him.

Gradually he began to pull back, lips caressing hers softly but in shorter intervals.  He pressed his forehead to hers, their noses touching, eyes still closed, and whispered against her lips.  “I’m sorry, River.  I want to tell you, but I can’t risk it.  I can’t risk changing things.”

“It’s alright.  I understand.”

“I love you.  And please, don’t worry.  You don’t—” he paused, sighing in frustration.  “Just please trust me.”

“Always,” she replied.

He kissed her again, burying both hands in her hair.

A few minutes later, they broke apart for breath, and River sat back to look down at him, his hair all dishevelled, a few individual strands catching the artificial sunlight and glinting silver.  His lips were kiss-swollen and his gaze bright and soft and open as he looked up at her.  Her heart fluttered with a surge of affection and she slid her hands up along the row of buttons on his waistcoat, fingers spread across his stomach.

“Did I mention how sexy you are in a waistcoat?” she asked lightly.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at her, looking pleased to be done with the difficult conversation.  “Yeah?”

“Oh, yes,” she purred, sliding her hands up farther.  “Especially with the coat off and shirtsleeves rolled up.”

He chuckled.  “You think the oddest things are sexy.”

“Are you complaining?” she replied, pausing the movement of her hands over his chest.

“Oh, no— do please continue,” he said roughly, his hands settling on her hips.

“If you’re good,” she said, and flicked open the first button.

 


End file.
